Spring Break!

Well, this last week was Mike's spring break, so we decided to take off for a couple of days. We left Thursday night and drove to Williamsburg (about 2 hours) to check out all that colonial stuff . . . Very cool! We stayed at the Howard Johnson because it's pretty dang cheap in the off-season. Well, let's just say, it oughta be cheap in every season! We tried to get in the hot tub, but neither of us could stand the heat for more than about ten seconds. I wasn't planning on going all the way in because of the baby, but I thought my ankles were getting seared as it was. Then, the next morning when we headed out to Colonial Williamsburg, we thought we'd ask the front desk guy how to get to it, since we knew it was close but just needed a point in the right direction. His response was "Everyone keeps asking me about this Colonial Williamsburg, and I'm not sure where you want to go. If you give me an address I can look it up." HELLO! So I said "Well, it's the place in town where people dress up - you know, the main attraction of this city . . " His response was "Well, there's Busch Gardens, but that's closed right now." Finally I pulled out the map of Colonial Williamsburg that I gotten AT THE FRONT DESK OF THE HOTEL, and said "See - here - this is where we want to go -- now how do we get there??" In the end, we guessed and Mike got us there pretty easily. It was about a mile away.

We had a great time at Williamsburg, although it absolutely poured rain all day. Consequently, we had the place mostly to ourselves. Much of the exhibits were closed for the off season, but we still got to see some pretty cool things, like the basket makers and the foundry. What's cool is that while these people are showing you what life was like back then, they're also actually make useful things, like spoons. I decided that I'd like to have my own foundry some day.

So we participated in this "Order in the Court" thing where you go into the old courthouse and become part of a colonial court. They ask for volunteers to play roles of different people accused of things, and then they judge you. So the main dude (aka Sheriff) is asking for volunteers and says that the only qualification is that the person has to be of legal voting age - 21. So Mike raises his hand. Mike is the only one raising his hand. The Sheriff says again, in a louder slower tone "OVER 21". Mike continues to raise his hand. The Sheriff reiterates "OVER 21". Mike and I are both sitting there nodding, and finally the Sheriff gets the point that Mike actually is over 21 and gives him the role to play. HILARIOUS!! I was busting up laughing for a while on that one. Maybe once we have a baby people will think we're as old as we are . . . .

After a fun day of rain and living history (with Mike's many flashbacks to "The Park"), we made our way to Virginia Beach where we stayed at a hotel right on the beach, which was way cool! We woke up the next morning and thought "It's a beautiful day. We'll sleep a little longer, then check out, and play on the beach." The only problem with this scenario is that by the time we get out to the beach, it's, you guessed it, raining! We decided to tough it out for a little bit since it was just a drizzle; after all, you can't come to the coast and not play on the beach! Naturally, as we are getting ready to leave it starts to pour buckets, and in that last 3 minutes we got soaked through to the skin. Now, refer back to the part where we already checked out of the hotel . . . Yes, so we have nowhere to dry off but the car :). Our plan had been to head out to this state park and do some hiking and see a lighthouse. So we drove out there, realized that we had no desire to spend more time in the rain, already soaked, and promptly turned around. So, we spent the day at the Virginia Aquarium -- indoors. It was great! We saw some huge sea turtles, sharks, tree frogs, and even some birds. By the time we left there it was almost time to be heading home, so we made a pit stop at Wendy's and then headed out.

All in all, it was just so nice to be away from home for a few days and to spend uninterrupted time together! No matter the rain, we had a relaxing time, and we got to see some pretty neat stuff. I guess this is why it's so much more fun to travel when you're married than when you're a kid - you get to take your best friend with you.